The present invention relates to fire hydrants and in particular to preventing a loss of water when a fire hydrant breaks off.
Most cities have fire hydrants spaced between 200 and 500 feet apart and next to a street. Such spacing results in a very large number of fire hydrants and proximity to a street results in periodic collisions causing the fire hydrant to break off from its respective water source. The fire hydrants are specifically mounted using break off bolts which includes a narrow belt to result in the fire hydrant breaking off from a break off riser before the break off riser is damaged.
Various break off valves have been designed and used to prevent or minimize the loss water when the fire hydrant breaks off from the break off riser, but known break off valves have either failed to operate as intended, or allowed substantial water to escape even when they work as intended.